No surprises in the men’s draw.
NADAL – SCHWANK 6-1 6-3 6-4
It could have been a very nasty trash but fortunately the Argentine did not lost his honour! From one side we had the super mega King of Clay, on the other an Argentine that is ranked 192 and that he has to struggle everyday to compete in tough challengers around the world.
Eduardo played a perfect match from a tactical point of view. He knew he had no chances at all on the baseline, so he decided to both try-the-big-shot-as-much-as-you-can and use lots of variations (namely… drop shots) to upset Rafa. That was a very good strategy that allowed him to have at least a match with the world no.2.
“I have started well the tournament – into the second week now, that is the most important thing,” Nadal commented. “Now I have a big confrontation against Monaco. He is having a fantastic season.”
Head to Head: Nadal leads Monaco 3-1 (the only time he lost was in Cincinnati when the Spaniard had to retire in the second round). 3-0 on clay (where Monaco never managed to win more than 3 games in a set!).
MURRAY – GIRALDO 6-3 6-4 6-4
Andy had a very good response to some criticism from Giraldo’s entourage that defined the Scott as a Drama Queen because of his continous complains about his physical condition. The answer was immediate and definitive with Murray defeating Giraldo in 3 straight sets.
“It was very hot today, so I warmed up very quickly,” Murray said. “I felt better yesterday when I woke up than I had the day before, and then obviously had a very light practice yesterday. I woke up this morning again feeling better than I did, but that’s because of the work my physio has done over the last 48 hours and all the recovery work that we’ve done between the last match and now.”
To be honest, given also the depressing tone of Murray’s interviews it does not seem to be able to compete at the very top levels in this mental and physical state.
He will play Gasquet in the next round and he is not the favourite to win that match.
Head to Head: 3-3. On clay:1-1. Gasquet defeated Murray 2 weeks ago in Rome.
FERRER – YOUZHNY 6-0 6-2 6-2
Ferrer is the real seed no.4 and by chance he is in a collision course with the seed no.4 (Murray). The Spaniard did not lose a set so far and yesterday he produced one of the worst trashes in the men’s draw (so far) conceding only 4 games to Youzhny (thanks God this time he didn’t smash the racket on his head).
“This match was easier than planned, and I was immediately into the match,” he said.”When the situation was a bit difficult, I managed to overcome these difficulties. Like there was a break point, and I managed to get through, thanks to my serve. I managed to dictate the game.”
David will play Granollers (fellow countryman). Head to head: 3-0 for Ferrer (1-0 on clay)
OTHER RESULTS
Gasquet – Haas 6-7 (3) 6-3 6-0 6-0
Granollers – Mathieu 6-4 6-4 1-6 4-6 6-1
Monaco – Raonic 6-7(5) 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4
Almagro – L. Mayer 6-4 6-1 6-2
